The Saunders family launched the Amelia’s Miracle Appeal and raised more than £200,000 in just 12 weeks to take Amelia to Texas

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A little girl given no more than three months to live when she was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour is due to start school in September.

Since she was diagnosed six months ago, four-year-old Amelia Saunders has gone from strength and strength and is now looking forward to making friends at Crosfields School in Reading. Her parents Richard and Chantal, of Lower Earley, said just a few months ago Amelia struggled to grip a pen, but she can now write her name and they have seen improvements in her speech.

Mr Saunders said: “Just under six months ago we faced an uncertain future ahead of us.

“Those six months have been the hardest, most challenging, saddest yet most exhilarating time I have ever experienced, bar none.

“There is no doubt about it – Amelia should not be here right now. Those six months, at first filled with pain, were then filled with hope, then amazement. We are amazed, every day, at how Amelia beats all the odds there are.

“The doctors here think this is a temporary thing, and that her treatment will not work. Time has told us otherwise.

“We have seen the good and the bad. But we have met the people who will now live a long and beautiful life because of this treatment.

“Time has given us a goal, something we never thought could be achieved, and it has given us the strength we needed to travel our rocky path.

“It has driven all those around us to help, to raise the most amazing amount of money, to pat us on the back, and to make us smile again.

“We have lived a past and a present, but look towards an uncertain future, one which can only be determined by the strength and determination we have to succeed. And the love of two parents for their children cannot be broken.”

Amelia was given between three weeks and three months to live when she was diagnosed with the tumour.

The Saunders family launched the Amelia’s Miracle Appeal and raised more than £200,000 in just 12 weeks to take Amelia to Texas where she had treatment at the Burzynski Clinic.

Mr Saunders added: “Our journey continues, and we will not give up until Amelia is able to live a normal, happy life. That will be her time. The time of miracles.”